𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟒𝟑
After enhancing the Necklace of Growth, I focused almost all my time on skill training and achieved satisfactory results.
A prime example is Jayer’s Guardian Shield, which I raised to level 21.
In addition, I raised other skills evenly, so my overall stats also increased, but still feeling it was lacking, I planned to continue skill training as much as possible.
If only that unexpected message hadn’t popped up.
Murmur~ Murmur~
“Wow, there are so many people.”
“You’re right.”
“Are they all here to acquire new skills?”
“Well, there’s probably no other reason.”
Nodding in response, I saw the Wanderer and hundreds of players ahead.
The reason for such a large number of players was that someone had discovered the Wanderer, making it possible to acquire a few newly patched skills.
Roughly, [singing[, [playing music[, and [dancing[.
And just like me, Yua and the others, who had seen the Wanderer discovery message, suggested we go there, and since I had no reason to refuse, I ended up here like this.
‘But I don’t think there will be any skills for me to acquire.’
What would I, a frontline fighter, do with singing or playing music skills?
It would be funny to sing while blocking with a shield, but anyway, it wasn’t a suitable skill for me to use.
‘Besides, if I’m only going to acquire F~E rank skills, is there really a need to come here?’
Of course, without voicing those doubts, I moved forward and could hear the sound of music along with someone’s whispering voice.
“There’s a mysterious power in songs and music. Learn that mysterious power.”
‘……The voice is nice.’
It’s a sweet and beautiful voice.
Naturally, my gaze was drawn to it, and I saw the NPC playing music with their eyes closed. Soon, the NPC uttered words that didn’t quite match their voice.
“Just 5 gold~ Pay 5 gold and I’ll kindly teach you.”
“……”
There’s no such thing as a free lunch, but isn’t that too blunt?
Moreover, they didn’t even mention what rank the skill would be acquired at.
If I paid 5 gold and acquired an F-rank skill, the feeling of betrayal would be immense.
And it seemed I wasn’t the only one who thought that way.
“Excuse me, what rank will the playing skill be if I learn it?”
“It depends on your skill. So, what do you say? Will you learn it?”
The player who approached the NPC nodded, as if mesmerized by their appearance, or perhaps genuinely wanting to learn the skill, and paid 5 gold.
“Thank you. Then take this lute and play it just like me.”
The player seemed flustered by the NPC’s sudden request to play the same tune, but it wasn’t a difficult piece.
Or rather, it wasn’t even a proper tune, just playing single notes.
Naturally, the player followed along well, and seeing this, the NPC nodded and started playing with a slightly increased difficulty.
‘Hmm.’
What are they doing?
Even though it was more difficult than the beginning, it was still at the level of a simple children’s song.
Moreover, the player seemed to have learned an instrument before, as they played at a decent level. However, before long, the NPC’s hands began to play an increasingly difficult tune.
Ding~
“Ah……”
Unfortunately, the player couldn’t keep up with the NPC’s playing and missed a note, and the NPC stopped playing as if it was enough.
“You’re skillful. Now you can play without my help.”
“Huh? Oh, right. D-rank……”
It seemed like the player briefly mentioned D-rank.
Could it be that the rank of the skill acquired changes depending on how well you follow the playing?
‘What? Then if you play until the end, do you get an S-rank?’
It was a fascinating method either way, so after watching without getting bored, I turned my head again to look for other things to see.
“Oh? Rudin-nim.”
“……?”
When I turned my head at the sound of someone calling me from the side, I could see a few Emperor Guild members.
“It’s Heron-nim and Row-nim.”
But why did the two of them come here?
Both of them had grown without any relation to playing music skills.
Heron was a tanker like me, and Row was a ranged dealer type who used a bow.
It would have made more sense if Eris, the healer, had come.
“Haha, Rudin-nim, you were also interested in the skills here.”
“What about Heron-nim?”
“I’ve already completed my skill composition, so I don’t need it. But a close guild member asked me to come along, so I followed.”
It seems the reason they came here is similar to mine.
“But it’s more expensive than I thought. 5 gold.”
“But it seems the rank changes depending on skill.”
I told Heron, who seemed to think 5 gold was expensive, what I had just learned, but he didn’t show much interest.
Well, someone like Heron would have already optimized their skill composition and leveled up considerably, so they wouldn’t easily change their skills unless it was a special case.
The same goes for Row next to him.
“Anyway, I’m glad you seem to be doing well.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Aren’t there a lot of criticisms online?”
“Ah, it’s fine.”
What he meant was that there was an issue with me helping the Anis Kingdom players and catching the Specter before.
I didn’t know it at the time, but Kangjin was broadcasting the battle.
Because of that, everyone saw me using the Anis Kingdom players as bait to catch the Specter, and some people criticized that action as being too much.
“At least we caught the Specter.”
On the other hand, some people argued that if it wasn’t for Rudin, they wouldn’t have been able to catch the 23rd Apostle and Beluin’s Specter.
Considering the skill level of the Anis Kingdom players I saw at the time, it wasn’t an entirely baseless argument.
“Anyway, even after helping them, tsk, this is why you shouldn’t help strangers so easily.”
Suddenly, I heard Row grumbling.
“Rudin-nim, be careful too. There are more people than you think who will complain instead of thanking you for your help.”
“Yes.”
“Heron-nim!”
While I briefly responded to Row’s words, I heard someone calling Heron from afar.
Turning my head, I saw a few people who seemed to be guild members waving their hands, and seeing them, Heron and Row said as if they had no choice.
“It seems we have to go. Then, Rudin-nim, take care.”
“You too, Heron-nim.”
After Heron and Row left, I looked around for a bit and decided to look for Yua and the others. Soon, I spotted Yua talking to an NPC at a short distance.
“Should I make an instrument with this Soundwood?”
“Absolutely not with your amateur skills. It has to be made by a master craftsman, but where would I find such a person?”
‘Are they receiving a quest?’
Judging from the overheard conversation, it felt like a quest.
“A master craftsman……”
“What are you doing?”
When I approached and asked, Yua seemed slightly startled and turned her head, then smiled as she recognized me.
“I was looking to see if there was a quest. Oh, do you know how to make instruments?”
“Instruments…… I think it would be difficult.”
Regardless of her intention in asking, my Equipment Crafting skill was for making things using minerals.
However, looking at the piece of wood in the NPC’s hand, I thought it would require a woodworking-related skill, so I answered that it would be difficult, and Yua nodded as if she understood and said to the NPC.
“I’m sorry.”
“What’s there to be sorry about? Didn’t I say it needs to be made by a master craftsman? I didn’t expect much anyway, so don’t be discouraged.”
Looking at the NPC’s face, which said they didn’t expect much, they seemed quite disappointed.
But what’s the standard for a master craftsman?
If it’s someone like me, with an S-rank skill and level 30, there wouldn’t be anyone who could make it right now.
‘Let’s check just in case.’
My skill, Dreton’s Equipment Crafting.
If instruments were classified as a type of equipment, maybe I could make it. Thinking that, I opened the Skill Information Window and read the description of Dreton’s Equipment Crafting.
[Dreton’s Equipment Crafting[ (S-rank+Transcendence)
Description: Dreton’s unique skill, which has crafted numerous legends. It is also a skill that can craft all existing equipment. Moreover, it is a skill created by the embodiment of his achievements in creating countless legends with a technique that no one can imitate.
‘If instruments are classified as equipment here, it would work.’
Is it possible?
The problem is, even if it’s possible, I don’t have the tools to make it.
I wouldn’t be hammering the instrument into shape, would I?
‘Well, there’s no rush.’
Based on the NPC’s conditions, there’s no one who can make it right now.
Who would learn an S-rank skill and level it up to 30?
No, even if the condition was lowered to B-rank, reaching level 30 wouldn’t be easy.
Maybe if it was a much lower E-rank.
And even if someone leveled an E-rank skill to 30, it would be questionable whether they could be called a master craftsman, so I decided to take it easy and looked for Sina and Rine who came with me.
[The scattered Specters of Beluin have gathered in one place.[
‘Huh?’
[The total number of Beluin’s Specters gathered in one place is four.[
[The four Specters merge into one, summoning the Dark God Beluin, who has recovered 66% of his power.[
[The Second Main Scenario, ‘The Dark God,’ begins.[
“Whoa? It’s the Second Main Scenario!”
“Beluin has descended!”
Like me, several players who saw the message shouted about the newly started main scenario.
In the end, all countries except the Harpe Empire and the Anis Kingdom failed to capture the Specters.
‘Well, I didn’t expect them to catch them anyway.’
The 10 guilds chosen for the First Main Scenario were busy recovering their strength, and the players were busy avoiding Beluin’s Thoughts appearing everywhere, so this was probably a natural result.
The Anis Kingdom, which even recruited me to catch the Specter, was the exception.
Besides, not all players were just sitting idly by.
There were rumors that the Ronda Kingdom used a summon presumed to be an S-rank skill to fight the Specter, so it seemed like some people were fighting hard.
[Beluin’s influence over the continent is further strengthened.[
[All stats of monsters increase by 20%.[
[Beluin’s Thoughts appearing throughout the continent become twice as powerful.[
[With the descent of Beluin, the Churches of Light across the continent begin to recruit heroes.[
‘This is quite troublesome.’
The 20% increase in monster stats wasn’t a big deal.
Instead, the message about the Thoughts becoming twice as powerful was concerning. If the Thoughts, which already had considerable health, became twice as powerful, it would be difficult to deal with them now.
“The Second Main Scenario has begun.”
“Even if it has begun, there won’t be any significant changes right away.”
There would probably be changes like Beluin’s direct invasion, but I didn’t think he would come all the way to the Harpe Empire.
No, since it’s the place where he was first sealed, would he come?
Remembering how Beluin’s Specter roared and tried to kill me before, I had a feeling that he would come to the Harpe Empire for some reason.
“What are you planning to do, Rudin-nim?”
“Well, I’m sure the starting point is the Church of Light, but……”
There wasn’t enough information to move recklessly.
Right now, all we know is that Beluin has descended. We don’t know how strong he is with 66% of his power recovered, and we don’t know what happened to the Apostles who followed him.
My guess is that everyone will be watching and waiting instead of making a move.
“Are you going to participate?”
“Yes, even if not right away, I think I probably will.”
“Then I’ll participate too.”
“Huh?”
At her unexpectedly proactive words, I looked at her with a questioning look.
Since the Second Main Scenario doesn’t seem to have any restrictions, anyone could participate, but Yua’s words sounded as if she was saying she would participate because I was participating.
“I couldn’t help you properly in the First Main Scenario.”
“No, you were a great help.”
“And there’s also the weapon you made for me, Rudin-nim.”
“……”
It seems the weapon I made for her gave her confidence.
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